1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a joist hanger and more particularly to a joist hanger which may be utilized during the construction of a deck.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the construction of a deck which is attached to a house, an elongated 2.times.12, 2.times.10, 2.times.8 or 2.times.6 wood plate is nailed to the house where the deck is to be located. A plurality of horizontally spaced joists must be secured to the plate at one end and are secured at their outer ends by being positioned on the top of a plate which extends between a plurality of vertical posts or which are nailed or screwed to the inner surfaces of a plate supported on a plurality of vertical posts. The inner ends of each of the joists are normally connected to the plate secured to the house or the plate supported by the posts by means of U-shaped joist hangers which are nailed to the plate or plates. There are plates which are intended to accommodate 2.times.6s, 2.times.8s, 2.times.10s or 2.times.12s. However, the widths of the joists for each dimension identified above can vary significantly. For example, a carpenter may nail a 2.times.12 joist hanger to the plate and insert the joist therein only to find that the upper end of the joist, because of irregularities in the thickness of the joist, extends above the upper end of the plate. If the thickness of the joist is considerably less than specified, the upper end of the joist will be disposed below the upper end of the supporting plate. Due to the irregularities in the thicknesses of the joists, the U-shaped joist hangers are normally not utilized until after the joist has been properly positioned adjacent the supporting plate with the upper ends thereof being aligned. However, this method of constructing a deck normally requires two persons. For example, if the inner and outer ends of the joist are to be positioned adjacent the sides of the supporting plates, a person must be positioned at each end of the joist to hold the same in position until the joist has been secured to the supporting plates. If the outer end of the joist is simply supported upon a supporting plate, it is still difficult to place the outer end of the joist on the outer support, maneuver the joist until it is in proper position with respect to the wood plate secured to the exterior of the house, hold the inner end of the joist in position and then secure the inner end of the joist to the wood plate.